Kerala liquor sales touch ₹665 crore mark within first nine days of Onam

Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) sold liquor bottles worht a total of ₹116 crore, which is also an increase from last year's ₹112 crore.

Kerala sold liquor worth ₹665 crore in the first nine days of Onam until Monday, which is a ₹41-crore increase from last year's record sales of ₹624 crore during the same time period.

The Bevco outlet in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district recorded highest liquor sale of ₹1.06 crore on Monday. (File)

As reported by The News Minute, Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) sold liquor bottles worht a total of ₹116 crore, which is also an increase from last year's ₹112 crore.

The Bevco outlet in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district recorded highest liquor sale of ₹1.06 crore on Monday. This was followed by Ashramam Bevco outlet in Kollam which recorded liquor sales of ₹1.01 crore.

Monday was the ninth day of Onam also known as Uthradam, with the tenth and final — Thiruvonam — falling the next day. Uthradam is also considered the first day on the Onam festival in several regions of Kerala. On the day of Uthradam, people undertake extraordinary preparations to honour Mahabali's arrival, which is also known as the First Onam. Several dishes are made with recently harvested fresh fruits and vegetables.

Bevco's Managing Director told The News Minute that the figures of the liquor sales were not definite and the revenue was likely to increase once the total turnover were calculated.

As reported by Times of India, there were three Bevco outlets that touched the 90-lakh sales mark — Changanassery (sales worth ₹95.7 lakh), Court Junction Cherthala (sales worth ₹93.7lakh) and Payyannur (sales worth ₹91.6 lakh).

Anticipating higher revenue in liquor sales, Bevco had issued a notice to all of its outlets and urged the staff to be cooperating and to ensure that customers did not face any issues while purchasing the liquor. The circular also requested the employees to not take any leaves during the season. It further asked the employees to make sure that digital payment options were available on all the outlets.

Bevco officials told Times of India, the expected liquor sales until Wednesday were likely to go up to ₹770 crore, a hike from last year's ₹700.6 crore.